Secondary (Year 9-15) · State

Dunstan High School

Q: Is Dunstan High School a good school?

Dunstan High School scores 76/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Above median nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

Q: What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2024-12 review identified 6 key findings. The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 and has attested compliance with all aspects

Q: How do I enrol my child at Dunstan High School?

Use the school's enrolment form: https://dunstan.school.nz/international/ or call 03-4488595.

Q: What are the fees?

Dunstan High School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

Q: What is the roll size?

Dunstan High School has 583 students, with an EQI of 445 (mid-range socio-economic context).

Q: When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed Dunstan High School in 2024-12, signed by Shelley Booysen. 5 ERO reports are on file in our archive.

Enterprise Street, Alexandra · Otago & Southland

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Total roll 583

EQI 445

Founded 1962

Composite score

Established

B+

Above median

Rank #677 of scored NZ schools

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Accepts international students (SIEBA member) SIEBA member State school Co-educational Secondary school (Secondary (Year 9-15))

In summary

Dunstan High School is a secondary school in Alexandra with 583 students and a composite score of 84. The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 and has attested compliance with all aspects. Strengths include established processes for reviewing provision for international students, appropriate documentation for international students, and regular contact with host families, parents and caregivers.

Best suited for

Students aged 13-18 in Alexandra looking for a state-funded setting with an established ERO profile.

Is Dunstan High School a good school?

Dunstan High School scores 76/100 on the SchoolsNearMe composite — a weighted average of 5 axes (academic, outcomes, retention, wellbeing, trajectory). Above median nationally. The full breakdown is below; every input links to its source.

Strengths from the latest ERO report

Established processes for reviewing provision for international students and compliance with the Code
Appropriate documentation developed to inform international students about the school
Regular contact with host families, parents and caregivers

Summary derived from ERO reports + audited financials + MoE records. Every claim links to its source — see data transparency at the bottom of this page.

Score breakdown

6 axes, each scored 0–100 on a national absolute scale. As at 2025.

How this is computed

Academic

35%

L1 92% · L2 83% · UE 60% · near band median (n=81) · why?

Mean of latest NCEA Level 1 + Level 2 + UE achievement percentage from Education Counts. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: near band median (n=81).

Outcomes

25%

Uni 24% · Te Pūkenga 20% · Industry 19% · top quartile of band (n=77) · why?

Share of leavers going to a New Zealand university + Te Pūkenga + Industry Training (capped at 100%). Counts are normalised when EC publishes raw cohort sizes instead of percentages. Source: Education Counts post-school destinations. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=77).

Retention

15%

85% to Y13 · below band median (n=84) · why?

Percentage of the Y9 cohort still enrolled in Y13 (all students). Source: Education Counts retention table. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: below band median (n=84).

Wellbeing

12%

standdowns 17.1/1k · suspensions 0.0/1k · exclusions 0.0/1k · near band median (n=518) · why?

Composite of stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions per 1,000 students (lower is better). Formula: standdowns/1k + 2× suspensions/1k + 5× exclusions/1k. Small primary schools with no rows score top of band ("no incidents reported"). Source: Education Counts student engagement. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: near band median (n=518).

Trajectory

+2.1% roll over 5yr (2020→2025) · near band median (n=515) · why?

5-year change in total roll. −20% → 0 score, 0% → 50, +20% → 100. Source: Education Counts roll history. Year: 2025. Peer comparison: near band median (n=515).

ERO review

84/100 from ERO review 2024-12 · top quartile of band (n=520) · why?

Composite score from the most recent Education Review Office report (Haiku-extracted 0–100 from the published review text). For primary schools this is the heaviest axis (40%) because NCEA-style outcomes data isn't applicable. Source: ERO via Wayback archive. Year: 2024. Peer comparison: top quartile of band (n=520).

⚠ Insufficient EQI-band peers (n<10) to compute per-axis percentile context. The score above is absolute; treat it as a single-school read rather than a peer comparison.

Real ERO composite (from the latest review): 84/100.

Latest ERO review

2024-12-12 · Shelley Booysen, ERO

ERO report

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 and has attested compliance with all aspects
The school currently has three international students
School governance and leadership are informed about student wellbeing, learning and engagement
The school is in regular contact with host families as well as parents and caregivers
Care is taken over course selection to match international students' interests, particularly to cater for outdoor education pursuits

"The school has established processes for reviewing its provision for international students and compliance with the Code. School governance and leadership are informed about student wellbeing, learning and engagement."
— ERO, 2024-12-12 (governance)

Composite score across reviews

4 ERO reviews on file, 2023–2024. Click a point to read that review.

latest 85

NCEA achievement

School leavers with NCEA at each level. National average is ~85% (Level 1).

Education Counts

NCEA Level 1 · 2024

92.2%

107 of 116 leavers

-1.1pt vs prior year

NCEA Level 2 · 2024

82.8%

96 of 116 leavers

+2.8pt vs prior year

University Entrance · 2024

60.3%

70 of 116 leavers

+7.0pt vs prior year

Data: Ministry of Education / Education Counts, CC-BY-4.0

Stay-on rate

Percentage of students who stay at school until at least their 17th birthday — the standard NZ proxy for Year-9-to-Year-13 retention.

Education Counts

84.5%

2024 cohort · 116 students

+5.3pt vs 2023

Discipline (age-standardised, per 1,000 students)

Stand-down = sent home temporarily. Suspension = formal investigation. Exclusion = removed from school. National averages shown for comparison.

Education Counts

Stand-downs · 2024

17.1

16 this year · NZ avg ~37

Suspensions · 2024

0.0

· NZ avg ~5

Exclusions · 2024

0.0

· NZ avg ~1.5

Vocational Pathway Awards

School leavers achieving Vocational Pathway Awards by industry sector (2024).

Education Counts

Service Industries 15
Creative Industries 2
Construction and Infrastructure 1

Government funding

Crown funding only (school operations + teacher salaries + property). Excludes locally-raised funds, international fees and trading income — those are in the audited financial report above.

Education Counts

Total Crown funding · 2022

$6.84M

Per-student funding · 2022

$11,728

2018

$4.8M

2019

$5.2M

2020

$5.9M

2021

$6.4M

2022

$6.8M

Roll by year level

July 2025 roll return.

Education Counts

Year 09

135
Year 10

134
Year 11

124
Year 12

97
Year 13+

100

Roll by ethnicity

Share of total roll. Students who identify with multiple ethnicities are counted once.

Education Counts

European/Pākehā

88.0%
Māori

20.4%
Asian

5.3%
Pacific

3.8%
Other / MELAA

2.7%
International

0.7%

International students

SIEBA member · Day school only

ESOL support

partial

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Location

Enterprise Street, Alexandra. Nearby schools marked in grey.

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Schools nearby

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Frequently asked

Is Dunstan High School a good school?

What does the latest ERO review say?

ERO's 2024-12 review identified 6 key findings. The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 and has attested compliance with all aspects

How do I enrol my child at Dunstan High School?

Use the school's enrolment form: https://dunstan.school.nz/international/ or call 03-4488595.

What are the fees?

Dunstan High School is a state school. There is no tuition fee for domestic students; voluntary donations may be requested.

What is the roll size?

Dunstan High School has 583 students, with an EQI of 445 (mid-range socio-economic context).

When was the school last reviewed by ERO?

The Education Review Office last reviewed Dunstan High School in 2024-12, signed by Shelley Booysen. 5 ERO reports are on file in our archive.

Data transparency

Every fact on this page links to its source. We never publish a claim without provenance — read our methodology for the full rules.

Last updated

12 Dec 2024

Source documents

5 cited

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Sourced from

ero.govt.nz
sieba.nz
schoolsdata.co.nz
dunstan.school.nz
crimestats.co.nz